


Spooky

by CottonCandyWhump



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Allergic reaction, Anaphylaxis, Angst, Blood, Delirium, Explosion, Gen, Hurt Matthew Casey, Matthew Casey Angst, Matthew Casey Whump, Passing Out, Seizures, Shaky Hands, Stab Wound, Stabbing, Vomiting, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019, Whumptober2k19, allergy, anaphylactic shock, emeto, tw blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2020-11-09 03:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 10,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20847113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CottonCandyWhump/pseuds/CottonCandyWhump
Summary: Whumptober2019Whumpy Chicago Fire drabbles/oneshots based off the Whumptober prompt list.





	1. Shaky Hands

“Hey Captain? You okay?” Cruz asks upon seeing Casey’s hands trembling.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Casey says even though he is obviously not fine. His skin is practically white and upon further inspection, Cruz sees that his whole body is trembling, not just his hands.

“Hey, maybe you should sit down, Captain,” Cruz says, meeting Severide’s eyes across the scene and motioning for him to come over. Severide starts to walk over but gets stopped by another Lieutenant from 78.

“I’m fine, Cruz.”

Cruz resists the urge to snort and instead guides Casey towards the back of the rig to sit down. Casey tries to push him away but in his current state, he can’t do much and instead focuses on glaring at Cruz. 

Cruz watches as Casey’s glare falters and his face drains of any colour it had before. His eyes roll into the back of his head and Casey slumps to the side, unconscious.

Cruz hurries to put an arm out, stopping the captain from slipping off the side, and calls Severide over. Severide looks over and upon seeing Cruz holding Casey up, runs over. 

“What happened?”

“Probably an adrenaline crash,” Cruz answers, lying Casey down on the street, thankful that they had managed to block traffic. Casey eyelashes start to flutter as he comes to, blinking up at Cruz and Severide as they stand over him, concerned.

“What happened?”

“You passed out, Case. Adrenaline crash,” Severide explains, helping Casey sit up. Cruz opens the door to the squad rig and hands Casey a bottle of water from the package in the back.

“Thanks.”


	2. Explosion

“Casey! Get out of there!” Boden shouts, just seconds before the building explodes, trapping the truck lieutenant inside.

“Casey!” Severide shouts, running for the building.

Upon seeing Severide sprinting forwards, Boden runs after him, tackling him fifteen feet away from the building and pinning him down. 

“Let me go!” Severide screams, bucking and squirming to try and get out of Boden’s grip.

“There’s nothing we can do, Kelly. There’s no way in hell he survived that,” Boden tells him.

“No! No! He’s still alive, chief! Let me go in! He’s still alive!” 

Just then, a small voice crackles through the radio, raspy and weak.

“Chief. It’s Casey.”

“Casey? Where are you? How bad is it?” 

“I’m in the second floor washroom. In the-,” Casey says before cutting himself off with a groan.

“Casey? Casey!” Boden yells. Boden waves Cruz and Capp over and motions to Severide. “Pin him down, sit on him, I don't care. Just don’t let him up.”

“No! Chief! Let me go in!” Severide shouts, squirming the second Boden stands up. Capp and Cruz pin him before he gets anywhere and the three of them stay there awkwardly while Boden motions for truck to get the ladder up.

Severide watches, occasionally jerking to try and get free, as Boden climbs the ladder and goes in through the window. Cruz and Capp are watching too rather than focusing on keeping their Lieutenant down, and Severide takes advantage of that fact, jerking rather suddenly and forcefully. It surprises Cruz and Capp who struggle to pin Severide down again. They don’t succeed and Kelly takes off running towards the ladder. He scrambles up it as fast as possible and is through the window in a matter of seconds.

“Casey!” He exclaims, dropping down beside Casey and Boden. Boden looks at him with a look of exasperation but says nothing. Severide stares at Casey, taking in the blood dripping from his mouth in stark contrast with his deathly pale skin. 

“We need a backboard up here,” Boden shouts into his radio. Casey doesn’t say anything, just continues staring up at Severide, his expression blank.

Herrmann comes up with a backboard about a minute later and together they manage to carefully load Casey up onto it. About halfway down the ladder, Casey groans, his eyes flicking to Boden’s face.

“Don’t worry, Casey. Everything’s going to be fine.”


	3. Delirium

“Baby Bat laughed as Daddy Bat tickled him,” Boden reads, tickling his son and grinning when Terrence laughs. Boden opens his mouth to continue reading when the doorbell rings. Donna stands to answer it with a sigh but Boden hands Terrence to her.

He opens the door just in time for Casey to collapse into his arms.

“Donna! Call an ambulance!” Boden shouts, laying Casey down in the entryway upon seeing the blood soaking his t shirt. 

“Casey? You with me?” Boden asks. Casey looks up at him and pales a few shades until his face is practically white. 

“Donna! How long on the ambulance?!” Boden yells as Casey starts coughing, blood dripping from his lips and onto the carpeted floor. 

“They’re on their way. What happened?” Donna asks, walking over with Terrence in her arms. “Oh my god!”

“Terrencem go play in your room. Donna, I need some towels,” Boden instructs, seeing the puddle of blood surrounding Casey creeping further along the floor.

“Casey? Can you hear me?” 

Boden lifts the captain’s shirt up carefully to reveal a jagged stab wound, bleeding freely.

“Christie?” Casey mutters, turning his head.

“It’s me, Matt. It’s Boden. You’re at my house and an ambulance is coming soon. You’re going to be ok. Can you hear me? You’re going to be just fine,” Boden says, starting to panic when Casey starts mumbling about farms.

“Wallace? I brought the towels. What’s going on? Is he ok?” 

“Sorry, Casey,” Boden says, taking the towels and immediately pressing pressure on the wound. “He’s been stabbed, Donna.”

Casey suddenly starts gagging, blood flowing from his mouth before either Donna or Boden has a chance to react. 

“Where is the goddamn ambulance?!” Boden growls, turning Casey’s head to the side. An ominous gurgle fills the room as more blood leaks out of Casey’s mouth.

“We have to go, Sev. We have to go,” Casey mutters, his words slurring as Boden puts more pressure on his wound.

Finally the ambulance arrives followed by none other than truck 81. Boden takes a closer look at the ambulance and recognizes the paramedics from shift three.

“What happened?” The third shift lieutenant asks.

“He’s been stabbed,” Boden explains.

“Is that-.”

“Captain Casey. Yes. Now get the goddamn paramedics over here.”

The paramedics come running, a backboard and C collar in hand. With Boden’s help, they get him loaded onto the backboard and into the ambulance. 

“Chief, I’m sorry,” Casey says, turning his head towards Boden. That was the last thing said before Matthew Casey flatlined.


	4. Human Shield

“Casey, what’s taking so long?” Boden says into the radio as he waits for Casey to leave the building. It had been twenty minutes since his crew had gone in to evacuate the building and ten minutes since they had come out again without Casey.

“Chief, is Severide there?” Casey asks and Boden’s mind flashes back to a couple years ago when he asked the same thing about Dawson.

“He’s here, Captain. Everything going ok?” Boden asks.

“Sev, Andy’s coming out. Will you be able to meet him?” Casey asks and Boden frowns, about to correct the captain when Severide holds up a hand. 

“Yeah we can do that. Is there anybody else coming out with him?”

“Yeah, him and Cruz. Andy has his gear,” Casey responds, prompting Cruz to look over.

“Got it,” Severide says and closes the channel before looking over to Boden and the rest of them. “Casey’s in trouble. There’s two guys, one of them has a gun.”

“Main, this is Battalion 25 requesting police assistance at 625 Waltchester. We have a hostage situation,” Boden says into his radio. 

There’s a few minutes of tense silence before CPD arrives, Jay and Antonio immediately going towards Boden.

“What’s going on?” Jay asks.

“Casey’s being held hostage by two other guys, one of them has a gun. There’s a carbon monoxide leak in there,” Boden tells them.

Before anyone has a chance to respond, the door slams open, revealing two men and Casey, bruised, bleeding and with a gun pointed at his head. Immediately all guns are trained on the pair and the man in front laughs.

“If you shoot, you hit him,” he says, jerking Casey’s hair to emphasize his point. Severide watches, helpless, as his best friend grimaces, obviously in pain but refusing to make a sound. 

“Let him go! He did nothing to you!” Jay yells.

“That’s not happening, Mr. Policeman!” The other man yells.

“Drop your weapon and let him go!” Jay yells again. “Now!”

The man sneers at him before smacking Casey across the face with the back of the gun. Casey’s head whips around from the impact and against his will, Casey lets out a low groan.

“Hey! You heard me! Drop your weapon!” 

“No, I don’t think I will,” the man sneers, cocking the gun. Two shots are fired in the next second, one from Jay’s gun and the other from Antonio’s. The man ducks behind Casey, using him as a human shield and Severide watches in horror as Casey’s body is thrown back, the two bullets embedding themselves in his shoulder and leg.

“Casey!” Severide calls, running forwards and dropping to his knees next to his best friend as the two officers cuff the man. “Hey buddy, can you hear me?”

Casey ignores him, instead turning towards Jay and Antonio who had just handed the man off to two uniformed officers.

“You shot me!” He accuses.

“Hey, Case. Just relax,” Severide says, putting a jacket under his friend's head.

“Relax? They shot me! I got shot! Twice!”


	5. Gunpoint

“Hey! Get out of here!” 

Casey startles at the call from behind him and turns around to see a man standing maybe five feet away and waving a gun.

“I’m not a cop. I’m a firefighter. You need to get out of here. It isn’t safe,” Casey tells him, hands up in surrender.

The man, having decided that a conversation wasn’t necessary, cocks his gun.

“Captain? What’s taking so long?” Herrmann asks, coming around the corner, just in time to see the man pull the trigger, Casey falling to the ground with a scream of pain.

“Holy shit!” Herrmann shouts. The man turns his gun on the other firefighter. 

“Move and you’re next,” he threatens, cocking the gun again. Herrmann puts his hands up in surrender and risks a quick glance to Casey. 

The truck captain was lying on the ground, his hands on his abdomen where Herrmann could see blood. The blond was conscious for the moment but looked to be fading fast, his eyelashes fluttering and his grip on his abdomen weakening.

“Hey! Eyes up here!” The man snaps. Herrmann gives Casey a reassuring look before bringing his eyes back up to the man as ordered. He barely restrains himself from reacting when he sees Severide standing behind the man, halligan in hand. One swing from Severide and the man is down, his gun skidding across the floor. Immediately both lieutenants rush towards the fallen captain, dropping to their knees beside him.

“Hey, Casey. Stay with us, captain.”

“Brett! Dawson! Casey’s been shot!”


	6. Dragged Away

“Casey! Get out of there!” Boden shouts, seeing the fuel from the trapped car begin to leak out.

“I’ve almost got him Chief!”

“Now, Casey! Now!”

“I’m sorry chief but I’m not leaving,” Casey calls back, struggling to free the little boy from his car seat.

“CASEY, NOW!” Boden shouts, running forwards and grabbing Casey around the waist, dragging him back out of the truck.

“No! Stop! Let me go!” Casey screams, fighting tooth and nail to get away from his chief and back towards the eight year old boy trapped in the truck.

“Casey, it isn’t safe!” Boden yells, struggling to get a hold of Casey.

“No! Let me go! He’s still in there!” Casey screams, lashing out and hitting Boden across the face. 

The truck bursts into flames, showering the chief and captain with flaming debris.

“No!” Casey screams, running towards the truck. 

“Casey!” Boden yells, running after him. The chief tackles him to the ground and Casey cries out as his head is slammed against the pavement.

“No! We have to get him out, chief! He’s a kid!”

“Matt, he’s gone,” Boden says, hugging Casey as the captain sobs, the scent of a burning body in the air.


	7. Isolation

Casey opens his eyes with a groan, finding himself in a dim, empty room, the walls, floor and ceiling made of mirrors. Confused and alarmed, Casey stands up, groping around the walls. There didn’t seem to be any doors or windows or any way to get in and out. 

“Hey! Is there anybody there?” Casey shouts, banging on the wall.

“Casey?” Somebody calls and Casey turns around to see Severide.

“Sev? What’s going on?” Casey asks, running over to his best friend. 

“You killed me, Casey,” Severide tells him.

“What? You aren’t dead,” Casey tells him, reaching out to touch him. Severide looks up at him, disappointment in his eyes as he fades, disappearing in a matter of seconds. Casey yanks his hand back, staring at the space Severide had occupied only seconds ago.

“Kelly?” Casey calls, looking around the room. 

“Captain! You were responsible for us.”

Casey turns around to see his crew standing there, bruised and bleeding. He goes to move towards them, intending to check on them but they disappear just like Severide had. 

“Casey.”

“Casey!”

“You could have saved us, Captain.”

Casey whirls, seeing Severide’s squad crew standing there, Severide lying in front of them, choking on his own blood. Casey runs towards them, trying to help his best friend, when they disappear again. Casey collapses to the ground, sobbing.

“Captain?” Somebody says softly from beside him. Casey looks up to see Boden crouched beside him, concerned. The chief offers him a hand up and Casey accepts it. Just as his hand touches Boden’s, the chief shoves him back to the ground and turns, walking into one of the walls. Casey scrambles to his feet, chasing after the chief.

“Hey! Chief!” Casey shouts, banging on the mirror. Boden doesn’t answer and Casey bangs harder, cracking the mirror. The image shatters and Casey looks down at the broken pieces, the image fading. 

The walls around him start cracking and Casey ducks, covering his eyes as the glass shatters, pieces raining down on him. Casey watches in horror as the floor starts to crack, think lines making their way towards him. He feels himself falling and reaches out, trying to grab onto something, anything, to slow his fall. His hand rakes across the wall, broken glass slicing his palm open embedding itself in Casey’s hand. 

“Casey! Matt, calm down!” 

Casey opens his eyes to see the horribly bright florescent lights of a hospital room. He’s lying in a bed, surrounded by wires and machines, Boden and Herrmann standing over him, pinning his arms down. Without thinking, Casey wraps his arms around Boden’s chest, sobbing. 

Somewhat surprised, Boden hugs the captain back hesitantly. Herrmann joins in, wrapping his arms around them in an awkward group hug.

They stay like that for a few minutes before Casey pulls back, apologizing. Boden sighs as he sees Casey’s mask go back up, hiding his emotions from the rest of them. 

“What happened?” He asks, looking around.

“The building blew up. You and Severide were in there. You’ve been in a coma for two months,” Boden explains.

“Severide?! Where is he?!” Casey asks, looking around frantically.

“He’s fine. The nurses wouldn’t let him back in until he had a shower,” Herrmann explains with a grin.


	8. Stab Wound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continued on from 3. Delerium

“We’re losing him!”

Boden watches as the paramedic struggles to revive the captain lying still on the gurney.

“ETA!” Boden shouts, shoving the paramedic out of the way and starting chest compressions.

“Two minutes!”

There’s a moment of tense silence while Boden struggles to get Casey’s heart beating again. Suddenly, a loud crack breaks the silence and although Boden feels sick at the sound, he keeps going. 

His hard work pays off when Casey’s heart starts beating again, the rhythmic beeping sound filling the ambulance. They pull up to the ambulance and Casey is rushed inside before Boden has a chance to ask any questions.

~~~

“Matthew Casey? Matthew Casey?”

Boden bolts upright from where he had dozed off and stands up.

“How is he?” He asks, not quite sure if he wants to hear the answer.

“No vital organs were hit but he did lose a lot of blood. We believe he will make a full recovery and will be able to return to work in about three months,” the doctor tells him and Boden sighs in relief.

“Can I see him?”

“He’s asleep right now but you can go in for a bit. Just don’t disturb him. Is there any family we can call?” 

“I’ll take care of that,” Boden promises as he follows the doctor to Casey’s room.

When they get there, the doctor steps aside for Boden to enter the room but Boden freezes in the doorway, staring at the pale truck captain lying motionless on the hospital bed, wires and monitors hooked up to his body.

“I’ll leave you to it,” the doctor says before leaving. Boden takes a seat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs next to Casey’s bed and sits, watching Casey for a few minutes before taking out his phone. He sends a quick text to the 51 crew, letting them know what had happened, before sending a similar text to Donna.

When he looks up again, Casey’s staring at him.

“Casey!” Boden exclaims.

“I’m sorry, Chief. I didn’t know where else to go and your house was the first place I thought of and it was the closest and-,” Casey starts, rambling until Boden cuts him off.

“Don’t worry about it. What happened?”

“I think I got mugged… I’m not sure,” Casey tells him, his brow furrowed in concentration. 

“That’s ok. Get some rest. I’ll get the doctor.”


	9. Shackled

“CPD! We have a warrant for the arrest of Matthew Casey in connection with the murders of Ellie Goodlen, Jay Young and Anthony Cortez.”

Casey looks up in shock as three CPD officers enter the firehouse, guns drawn.

“What? What’s going on?” Casey asks, standing up and walking over, pausing when Boden sticks an arm out, stopping him.

“You aren’t taking him anywhere. What evidence do you have against him?” Boden asks.

“His fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime,” the officer tells them, causing Casey to pale.

“What?! How? I didn’t do anything!” 

“Just come with us, Mr. Casey.”

“Go with them, Casey. We’ll get you out soon,” Boden instructs and Casey stares at him, gaping.

“But-,” Casey starts. One look from Boden shuts him up and he scowls, walking ahead of the three officers to the car.

“Uhhh…. We have to-,” one of the officers starts, holding out a pair of cuffs.

Casey stops and turns to glare at the officer.

“You are NOT cuffing me in front of my men,” Casey tells him, getting into the back of the car and slamming the door. He watches as two of the officers get in, the third getting in beside Casey. 

“You know,” the third officer says, conversationally. “You shouldn’t mess with powerful people.”

Casey doesn’t have time to ask what he means before the “officer” hits him over the head and he passes out.


	10. Unconscious

“Mr. Casey?” The judge calls upon seeing Casey start to sway on the witness stand. 

“Mr. Casey?” The judge calls again. By now everyone's attention was on the truck captain as he swayed, his skin practically white. Even the arsonist they were trying to put away was staring at him. The judge opens his mouth to say something else just as Casey’s legs buckle, sending him to the ground with a loud thump. 

“Casey!” Severide yells, jumping up and rushing over to his friend, despite the security guards yelling at him to stop. Severide drops to his knees beside Casey and maneuvers Casey so he’s in recovery position. Casey’s eyes flutter open for a second before rolling back into his head. Somewhere in the background, Severide can hear the judge yelling for an ambulance. He can see everyone being herded out of the courtroom, Boden and the rest of the crew glancing back anxiously every so often.

“Sir, you have to leave,” one of the guards says and Severide glares at him.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Sir-.”

“Let him be.”

Severide looks up to see the judge himself crouched down on the floor beside him and Casey. Severide goes to say something before Casey’s eyes flutter open and he groans lightly.

“Hey, buddy. You feeling okay?” Severide asks, rubbing the back of Casey’s hand.

“What happened?”

“You passed out. The ambulance is on its way,” the judge tells him.

“Ambulance? I don’t need an ambulance,” Casey mutters, trying to push himself up.

“Casey, I swear to god I will sit on you,” Severide threatens and Casey immediately stops moving, instead settling for glaring at Severide.


	11. Stitches

“Hold still!”

“I’m trying but you are literally sewing my face shut!”

“It’s just stitches, Casey!”

“You’re still sewing my face shut!”


	12. “Don’t Move”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Vomiting

“Hey Captain?” 

Casey looks up from his paperwork at the candidates call and motions for him to speak.

“Just wanted to let you know that lunch is ready. I made hamburgers.”

Casey nods and follows the candidate to the kitchen, shoving his paperwork aside for the time being. He takes his usual seat at the head of the table and quickly digs in. He’s halfway through his burger before he realizes that something was wrong. He drops the burger to the plate with a flop and freezes as he tries to figure out if he’s going to be sick or not.

His stomach makes that decision for him as he lurches forwards, vomiting onto his plate and the surrounding a table. Kidd and Herrmann, who were sitting on either side of him, jump up and scramble back, out of the splash zone. Kidd, thinking fast, grabs one of the mixing bowls from the counter and shoves it under Casey’s chin just as he gags again, half digested food splashing into the bowl.

The candidate watches in horror as Casey throws up again, Kidd holding the bowl and squeezing his shoulder. Casey struggles through one last wave of vomit before it’s over, his throat swelling up instead.

“Captain?” Kidd asks hesitantly when Casey turns to her, desperation in his eyes as he motions for something. The room starts spinning and Casey topples off his chair, landing on the floor. Kidd crouches down next to him, trying to figure out what he needs.

“His epipen!” Otis yells, having figured it out. There’s a flurry of motion as everyone tries to find the pen, the candidate still frozen in horror.

“Got it!” Herrmann calls, running back from the locker room and tossing the epipen to Kidd, who stabs it into Casey’s thigh. 

The relief is immediate and Casey relaxes on the ground, finally able to breathe again. With a groan, Casey tries pushing himself up.

“Don’t move, Captain. Ambo should be back soon and they’ll take you to the med,” Kidd tells him, slipping her jacket under his head. Casey grunts in response, his eyes slipping closed. 

“Captain, wake up,” Kidd says, shaking his shoulder gently. Casey whines slightly but opens his eyes, looking around the room. “That’s it, Captain.”

Kidd hears a thump and turns around to see what happened, only to find the candidate lying on the floor, unconscious.

“Herrmann! Candidate fainted!” She calls, motioning to where the candidate lay. Casey tries to sit up, trying to get to the candidate.

“Hey, Captain. He’s ok. Probably just freaked out,” Kidd reassures him, holding him down lightly. Casey cranes his neck to see the candidate and Kidd helps him turn on his side so he can see where Herrman and Otis were handing the candidate a glass of water. “See? He’s ok.”

Casey hums, still watching the candidate to make sure he’s alright.


	13. Adrenaline

“Herrmann! Kidd! Grab that hose! Otis, you’re with me!” Casey orders, looking up at the huge house fire. Just then a loud gunshot rings out, followed by another and another.

“Get down!” Boden shouts, dropping to the ground. The rest of the crew follows suit, Casey tackling the candidate when he doesn’t move, instead staying frozen in shock.

The gunshots stop about a minute or two and everyone stands up again, brushing themselves off.

“Anybody hit?” Casey asks and is met with negatives. The candidate stands up, intending to thank his captain when he sees the blood drenching Casey’s uniform.

“Captain,” he says, pointing to Casey’s uniform. Casey looks down and upon seeing the blood, pales.

“Oh,” Casey says, collapsing to the ground.


	14. Tear-Stained

Casey can’t remember exactly what caused the sudden feeling of panic, all he knew was that he suddenly couldn’t breathe. Standing up suddenly, Casey pushes his chair away from the table and takes off, barely making it to his office and slamming the door behind him before he collapses to the floor, hyperventilating and sobbing. 

In the distance, he can hear somebody calling his name and banging on the door to his office. The door to his office opens and Casey’s mind barely registers somebody crouching down beside him, taking his hand and putting it to their chest.

“Hey, Captain. Just breathe with me. In and out. Come on.”

Casey tries his hardest to match his breathing to whoever’s beside him but everything he takes a breath, he remembers the boy from the call two hours ago struggling to breathe as he goes into cardiac arrest. He remembers the devastation when the boy stopped breathing for good and the sight of the paramedics wheeling his small body into the ambulance, a white sheet separating him from the world.

His vision starts to dim as he struggles to get a breathe in and the last thing he remembers is somebody telling him to take deep breaths.

~~~

“Jesus. Is he ok?” Cruz asks, he and Otis standing in the doorway of Casey’s office as Herrmann and Kidd crouch on the floor beside their now unconscious captain.

Kidd puts her fingers against his neck, checking for a pulse, before nodding.

“He’ll be fine.”

“What happened?” 

“Panic attack. Help me get him onto the bed,” Kidd instructs. Together with Herrmann, Otis and Cruz’s help, they manage to get Casey onto the bed and Kidd pulls the covers up over him before turning the light off and herding everyone out.


	15. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Self harm scars.   
TW: Vomiting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it’s not his face, Pall. :)

“Hey Case, how’re you feeling?” 

Casey looks up when Severide pushes his door open, sans knocking. Casey hurries to tug his sweat pants up, trying to hide the old scars on his thighs. He’s not quite quick enough though and he can see the moment Severide notices them, his eyes widening in horror. There’s a tense silence as Casey tugs his sweatpants on the rest of the way and sits down on his bunk, avoiding eye contact.

Severide is the first one to speak, effectively breaking the silence.

“I wanted to know how you were feeling. You sounded pretty-. Oh fuck, I can’t do this. Casey, what the hell?! Why didn’t you tell me you were a cutter?!” Severide yells, his concern turning into anger.

“It was a long time ago, Sev!” Casey snaps, eyeing the open door. The last thing he wanted was his team finding out about his scars and thinking he was unfit to lead them. To be fair, he probably was at one point but he was better now, he swears.

“How long, Casey?! How long?!” Severide shouts, grabbing Casey by the shoulders and shaking him.

“Severide, stop! It was a long time ago and it’s really none of your business!”

“What’s going on in here?!” Boden asks, standing in the doorway.

“Chief! Look at this,” Severide says and before Casey can react, Severide was shoving him up against the wall and yanking his sweatpants down, far enough to reveal his scars.

“Severide, what the hell?!” Boden snaps, stepping forwards to release Casey from where he’s struggling to get out of Severide’s grip. 

“Chief! Look!” Severide points to Casey’s scars. Immediately Boden’s expression hardens and Casey pales, his stomach twisting uncomfortably.

Boden finally succeeds in freeing Casey, shoving Severide backwards to separate the two, only for Casey to sprint towards the washrooms, a hand over his mouth, eerily similar to what had occurred only two hours ago.

“You!” Boden snaps, pointing a finger into Severide’s chest. “Stay here! You had no right to do that!”

With that, Boden leaves the office, slamming the door and following Casey into the washroom. 

“Captain?” He calls quietly. The sound of retching and muffled sobs calls him towards the last stall and Boden pushes the door open to see Casey slumped over the toilet in a repeat performance of earlier. Boden kneels down beside the truck captain, careful to avoid the drops of vomit on the floor, and puts a hand on Casey’s shoulder, mentally sighing when the captain flinched away. 

“Casey, Severide had no right to do that and I just wanted you to know that it won’t be affecting anything at work.”

Casey turns him head to look at the chief but immediately whips back to face the toilet as his stomach searches for anything to throw up. 

“Yeah,” Boden chuckles. “Probably should’ve chosen a better time for this conversation.”

They sit there for a bit until Casey feels like he can stand up without messing up the stall even more. Boden hands him some toilet paper for his mouth and Casey takes it with a nod, bright red.

“Casey?” Boden calls when Casey starts to leave. “If you… ah…. ever need anyone to talk to…” 

Boden trails off, motioning to himself. Casey nods.

“Thanks, chief.”


	16. Pinned Down

“There‘s one! Come on!”

Casey looks up at the ominous call and turns around, only to be shoved to the ground and surrounded by five men in black hoodies. Casey sees a flash of metal as the first man steps forward, inspecting Case closely. After a while he shrugs then turns to his companions.

“Alright, boys. Have at him.”

Casey curls himself into a ball as they kick him, his head, neck and back taking the worst of the blows. He cries out in pain when one of the boys kicks him particularly hard in the back of the head, causing him to wonder why the group was attacking him literally a block away from the firestation. 

Thankfully the attack stops, causing Casey to look up, hoping to find somebody on his side. What he gets is a lot worse. The leaders steps forwards, pressing his boot down on Casey’s neck, effectively pinning him down.

“Bet you’ll think twice next time, Officer,” the man sneers and Casey’s hesrt starts besting faster.

“I’m not a cop. I’m a firefighter,” Casey forces out, struggling to take a breathe in. 

“A firefighter? Oh shit. Mickey, we fucked up, man,” one of the other guys says, starting to get nervous.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. What are we going to do, T?”

“Just let me think!” The leader, T, shouts. 

“Just let me go. I’ll go into work, get a friend to patch me up, and you can go. I won’t tell anyone what happened,” Casey suggests.

“No! No no no!” The leader shouts, delivering one swift kick to the firefighters head, effectively knocking him out, before fleeing, the rest of his group following close behind.


	17. “Stay With Me”

“Stay with me, Casey!” Severide shouts, ignoring Casey’s whimpers of pain as he presses down on the gunshot wound in his abdomen.

“Severide! What’s going on?” Boden asks, dropping to his knees beside the two officers. He takes one look at Casey and immediately radios for medical assistance.

“He’s been shot, Chief. It’s not stopping!”

Boden nods, glancing towards Casey’s face as his eyes flutter shut, his head lolling.

“Casey! Hey! Wake up, Matt!” Boden yells, tapping his cheek. It’s no use as Casey passes out fully.


	18. Muffled Scream

“Chief!” Herrmann calls into the radio as he looks through the hole in the floor to see Casey lying on the floor, unconscious. “Casey’s down! The floor gave out underneath him!”

“Herrmann, can you get to him?”

“Negative, chief.”

“Severide! Can you get to Casey?” 

“I think so. Cruz, with me,” Severide calls, heading for the truck captain.

Severide pushes the door to the basement open and immediately runs forward, dropping to his knees beside his best friend.

“Casey? Can you hear me?” Severide asks, shaking Casey’s shoulder.

Casey’s eyes flutter open and he lets out a groan of pain as he stares, eyes unfocused, at Kelly’s face. 

“Hey, buddy. Don’t worry, you’re going to be okay,” Kelly reassures him as Cruz radios for a backboard.

“Hurts,” Casey tells him, his words slurring slightly.

“Yeah I know, Case. Just keep still. Brett’s coming down with a backboard.”

“M’gon puke,” Casey slurs, swallowing convulsively. 

“Alright, Case. Just hold on,” Severide tells him. “Can you wait until we get the backboard?”

A low groan followed by a gag is his only answer and Severide hurries to turn Casey’s head to the side as he throws up.

“Lieutenant? Brett’s here,” Cruz says. 

“Alright. Hey Case? We need to move you, okay?”

Casey nods, eyeing the backboard with a grimace.

“Bite down on this,” Severide instructs, putting one of his gloves into Casey’s mouth. 

“One, two, three!”

Together they lift Casey up and set him on the backboard, a muffled scream of pain erupting from the captain’s mouth, tears making their way down his face.

“There we go, Case. You’re going to be alright.”


	19. Asphyxiation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Vomiting

“Hey! Where the hell is Matt Casey?!” 

Severide looks up from squads card game as a man storms into the station, rage clear on his face.

“Why do you need to know?” Severide asks, standing up and making his way over towards the man, his crew not far behind in case he needs backup.

“I need to know,” the man starts, stalking towards the squad lieutenant, “because he killed my fucking son!”

Without any other warning, the man smacks his hand against the side of Severide’s head and punching him in the stomach, causing him to double over, wheezing as he tries to get his breath back. Severide's ear starts ringing, throwing off his balance and sending him to the ground.

While Severide’s team is distracted, the man runs past them and into the kitchen where Casey is cooking dinner. 

“What are you doing?! Go after him!” Severide shouts, shaking Cruz’s hand off his shoulder. Squad freezes for a second before Sevride shouts, “NOW!”

They take off, arriving in the kitchen just in time to see Casey being shoved up against the wall, the mans hands at his throat, choking him. Herrmann and Otis are at his side, trying to get the man off of him while Kidd calls for Boden. 

“You killed my son!” The man screams, slamming Casey’s head into the wall. Casey groans, clawing weakly at the man’s hands on his throat, everyone else trying to get the man off him.

“Hey! Let him go!” Boden shouts, running into the room with Kidd fast on his heels.

“He killed my son! He killed my fucking son!”

Boden can see Casey starting to fade, his skin turning blue and the lack of oxygen causing his eyes to flutter shut. 

“I’m not going to ask again! Let the captain go!” Boden yells again, trying his best to get the man off of Casey. The captain in question finally passes out, his body going limp as the man slams his head against the wall again.

“No! He killed my son!”

“And you’re going to kill him!” 

“Good!”

Boden finally manages to get the man away from Casey and he carefully lays the truck captain down onto the floor and taking his pulse.

“He’s breathing,” Boden announces. He barely finishes his sentence when Casey’s eyes flutter open, staring over Boden’s shoulder.

“Hey, Casey,” Boden says, putting a hand on the captain’s shoulder. Casey doesn’t react, still staring over Boden’s shoulder. “Casey?”

Casey still doesn’t react, still staring over Boden’s shoulder.

“Chief, I’m going to go check on Severide,” Cruz tells him, “That lunatic hit him pretty hard when he came in.”

Boden nods, pleading with Casey to answer him.

Cruz walks over to the apparatus floor to see Severide sitting on the ground, a hand over his ear.

“Hey, Lieutenant? You ok?” Cruz asks, putting a hand on Severide’s shoulder.

“Yeah. Just dizzy,” Severide tells him. “How’s Casey?”

“Boden got the man off of him but Casey… he’s not responding to anything,” Cruz tells him. 

“What?!” Severide roars, trying to stand up. Cruz gives him a hand up and supports him as they make their way over to Casey.

Severide drops down beside Casey and calls his name. The rest of the station is watching in silence, except for the man cursing Casey and praying for his death.

“Casey! Please, answer me,” Severide pleads. Casey turns his head towards Severide and Severide nearly weeps from joy. The joy is short lived when Casey pitches forwards with no warning, vomiting down Severide’s shirt. 

“Shit!” Severide curses. Thankfully, somebody thrusts a walmart bag under Casey’s chin, effectively catching the next wave. Casey’s stomach calms down about a minute later and he looks up at Severide, his eyes glassy and unfocused but full of life. Somebody takes the plastic bag away and Casey shifts his attention to Severide again.

“Kel?” Casey croaks out, his throat protesting the action.

“Oh thank god, Casey,” Severide exclaims, wrapping his arms around Casey and pulling him close, ignoring the mess of vomit. “Missed you, Case.”

“Missed me? Where did I go?” Casey asks, looking around at all the worried faces staring at him.

“Nowhere, Matt. Don’t worry about it.”


	20. Trembling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Vomiting

Casey runs out of the burning house, barely ripping his mask off before he doubles over, deep coughs wracking his body. He places his hands on his knees as he struggles to get a breathe in.

“Hey, Captain? You okay?” Brett asks, coming over, a jump bag in hand. Casey waves his hand, dismissing her as he coughs again. This time he can feel something else making its way up his throat, the sour taste of bile making itself known.

He barely has a chance to turn away from Brett before he’s throwing up, the former contents of his stomach splattering on the ground, flecks of vomit landing on his boots and the bottom of his pants.

“Shit, okay,” Brett curses, fumbling through her jump bag for some water and glancing up at Casey every few seconds with worry. She’s finally finds the water bottle she had shoved in her bag earlier and hands it to the Captain as soon as he’s finished throwing up. 

Casey nods his thanks and rinses his mouth out, taking a long drink afterwards. Brett puts a hand on his shoulder when he starts trembling, his body exhausted from the effort of throwing up. She carefully guides the captain so he’s sitting on the ground, predicting that his legs would soon fail at holding him up.

“Captain, Brett. Everything ok?” Herrmann asks, heading over. Casey nods, sticking his in between his knees and trying to breathe through another round of nausea.

“Yeah. The Captain just got a bit too much smoke,” Brett tells him. Herrmann nods, glancing at the puddle of vomit on the ground uncertainly. 

“Ok…”

“Herrmann, everything is fine. Just let Severide know we’re going to be a bit late.”


	21. Laced Drink

“Hey! Captain!” Herrmann exclaims, greeting the truck captain as he makes his way to the bar.

“Hey Herrmann,” Casey grins, taking a seat. Herrmann turns around, sliding a glass of whiskey towards Casey.

“On the house, Captain.”

“Sorry, Herrmann. Can’t drink tonight,” Casey tells him, feeling bad about having to reject the gift.

“Right, painkillers. My bad, Cap. Coke?” Herrmann offers, bouncing right back. Casey nods his approval and soon has a tall glass of Coca Cola in front of him.

Half an hour later and Casey’s sitting at the bar, sipping his Coca Cola.

“Rum and coke?” Somebody asks. Casey turns his head to see a man about his age plop down in the seat beside him. The man in question had dark eyes and even darker hair and was admittedly good looking.

“Something like that,” Casey shrugs, trying his best to ignore Severde making kissing gestures behind the stranger. 

“Huh. A man with good taste. Brady Homeworth,” the man says, extending his hand for Casey to shake.

“Matt Casey.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Matt. Tell me, what do you?”

They chat for a while before Casey stands up to use the washroom. 

“I’ll be right back,” he promises, looking forwards to continuing their conversation.

“Take your time.”

Casey finishes quickly and heads back to his seat, taking a sip of his Coke. The two men continue their conversation and Casey finds out that Brady was a lifeguard with two dogs and a pet hamster named Fanny. 

It was nearly half an hour later when Casey starts feeling weird. He was feeling really dizzy and he knew he was slurring his words despite not having consumed any alcohol. His mind was too muddled to really dwell on it but Casey knew something was wrong.

Before he has a chance to voice his concerns, Herrmann notices his captain’s state.

“Hey, Captain? You ok?” He asks, looking at Casey in concern. The captain was slumped over the counter his eyes unfocused.

“M’feel weird,” Casey slurs. Herrmann frowns, turning his attention to Casey’s companion when the man laughs.

“You’re drunk, Matt. Haven’t you been drunk before?”

Herrmann’s brows furrow in suspicion and he waves Kidd and Otis over. The other two bartenders head over and look at Herrmann with confusion.

“Did either one of you give the captain alcohol?” Herrmann asks and both of them shake their heads.

“Nope. Severide said he was still on the painkillers from his surgery.”

“Yeah. I prefer all my limbs intact, thanks,” Otis quips.

“What did you do to him?” Herrmann snaps, turning towards Casey’s companion.

“What do you mean? He’s drunk,” the man tells him. 

“He’s only had Coke the whole night. Want to try again?” Herrmann asks. Otis and Kidd, quickly figuring out what had happened, stand beside Herrmann, arms crossed.

“Well, maybe he-,” the man starts before Herrmann cuts him off.

“You are in a bar full of firefighters, cops, doctors and paramedics. Do you really want to pull this shit?” Herrmann asks. By now they had gotten the attention of most of the bar goers and the man was glancing around nervously.

“Fine, I’ll leave.”

“Oh no. You aren’t leaving. Jay! Antonio! We have a situation over here,” Herrmann calls. The two CPD detectives head over, badges around their necks in plain view.

“This is ridiculous! I’m leaving!” The man exclaims, starting to walk towards the doors. He’s stopped before he gets even a few steps away, Jay and Antonio blocking his exit. 

“What’s going on?” Jay asks, grabbing the man’s arm in what looked like to outsiders to be a friendly, loose grip but what was in reality, a forceful death grip. 

“He drugged Casey,” Herrmann tells him. 

“What did you give him?” Antonio asks.

“Nothing!” The man protests, looking like he was about to piss himself.

Jay and Antonio exchange a knowing look and that’s all that the man needs to spill the beans. 

“Okay, okay! It was rope, okay? Chill!” The man shouts, shoving Jay and Antonio’s hands off.

“You’re under arrest for-,” Jay starts before being interrupted by a loud thunk.

The six of them turn their attention to Casey, who had fallen off the barstool and was now lying deathly still on the floor.

“Casey! Somebody call an ambulance!” 

“Hey, Captain. You’re going to be okay!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I’m so far behind I’m so sorry


	22. Hallucination

“Matthew?” 

Casey’s head snaps up from where he’s eating dinner with his team when he hears the unmistakable sound of his father's voice. Sure enough, standing in the doorway to the apparatus floor is his father, still dressed in his signature flannel, ACDC shirt and jeans.

“What the fuck,” Casey breaths, standing up and taking a few steps back.

“Matt, it’s me.”

“Nonono. You’re dead. You’re fucking dead!” Casey shouts, his heart beating way too fast.

“Captain? What’s going on?” Kidd asks, looking around.

“You’re dead! How the fuck are you here?!” 

Casey backs up until his back is against the wall but still his father advances. 

“Matthew, I’m back. I came back for you,” his father grins,reaching out a hand. Casey flinches away, his arms coming up to block the blow he’s sure will come. 

“Captain, there’s nobody there,” Kidd says quietly. Casey whips his head around, frantically trying to find where his father had disappeared to. 

“He’s dead! He’s fucking dead!” 

“Hey, Cap. Why don’t we have Brett come check you out?” Otis asks.

“Nonono he’s supposed to be dead!”

“It’s okay, Casey. He’s gone now. Let’s get you to Med.” 

Casey nods, not quite believing them but wanting to get the hell away from this place in case his father came back.

~~~

“Mr. Casey seems to have come in contact with some kind of drug. We’ll do some more tests to figure out what it is but he will be ok.”

“Can we see him?”

“I’m sorry but Mr. Casey has requested to be left alone.”


	23. Bleeding Out

“Chief?” 

Boden jumps slightly when Casey’s voice crackles through the radio, startling the chief from his thoughts.

“Go ahead, Casey.”

“I’m going to need some medical help in here,” Casey tells him, his voice tight with pain.

“What happened, Casey?” Boden asks, motioning for the paramedics to head into the building.

“I… um… I got shot. Just a little bit,” Casey tells him, as if ‘just a little bit’ would do anything to alleviate Boden’s concerns.

“You got shot? Where? How bad is it? Can you move? Where are you?”

“It’s mostly my shoulder, chest and leg. It’s not too bad but I can’t walk. I’m in the hallway outside room 113.”

Boden’s heart stops when Casey tells him.

“Casey,” he says carefully, “how many times did you get shot?”

“Um… I think four? Maybe five? I don’t know.”

Before Boden has a chance to ask what the fuck happened, there’s a scream from Casey’s side and the sound of Casey trying to calm somebody down.

“Oh my god! Oh my god! What happened?!” 

“Ma’am, everything’s ok. I need you to get out of the building,” Casey tells the lady and Boden shakes his head. Of course Casey would be telling her to leave while he’s bleeding out on the floor.

“Addy? Steele? Any progress?”

“Almost there, chief!” Addy calls back. The paramedics from both third and first shift had been called it to help deal with the influx of patients resulting in the two fires on either side of the apartment building. “We can see him!”

“Holy shit!” Steele curses. “That’s a lot of blood!”

“Jesus, Captain. How are you still conscious?” Addy asks. 

Boden feels his grip on his radio tighten, his mind automatically going ti the worse case scenario.

“M’good,” Boden hears Casey slur in the background.

“Yeah, no. With all due respect Cap, bleeding out on the floor isn’t considered ‘good’.” 

“M’not bleeding out,” Casey protests.

“Captain I can assure you, you are.”

“Nope. M’still here.”

“Fine. You aren’t bleeding out. Happy, Captain?”

The radio cuts out for a few seconds and the next thing Boden hears is Addy and Steele shouting for Casey to stay awake.


	24. Secret Injury

“Hey Case!” Severide calls.

Casey sighs at his best friends shout. All he wants is to stitch himself up and lie down in his bunk to try and sleep away the pain. Forcing a smile, Casey turns around to face the squad lieutenant.

“Yeah? What’s up?” 

“Just wanted to let you know you did great out there,” Severide tells him, slapping his back. It’s all Casey can do not to scream out as the pain in his ribs flares.

“Thanks, you too,” Casey mutters hurridely before taking off for his office, ignoring Severide’s confused shouts.

Casey quickly closes the door of his office, drawing the blinds and grabbing his first aid kit. He peels his shirt off, ignoring the way the blood makes it stick to his chest, and goes about inspecting the wound.

The stab would fairly deep and bleeding a lot, although Casey is confident it looks worse than it is. With a deep inhale, Casey starts sewing himself up, trying not to scream.

“Hey Captain?” 

Casey looks up in panic as his door slams open, revealing Otis with a big box of cookies in her hand.

“Oh my god!” He shouts, the box of cookies dropping from his hand as he sees the thread and needle handing from Casey’s bare chest. With a sigh, Casey gestures to Otis.

“Can this wait a bit? I’m in the middle of something,” Casey tells him, picking his needle up and continuing his stitches. Otis nods, speechless, as Casey continues sewing himself up as if it’s nothing.

~~~

“What happened?” Kidd asks, seeing Otis sit down pale and shaky after supposedly going to ask Casey about the cookies.

“Remind me to knock next time. What the fuck,” Otis mutters, putting his head in his hands.

“Oh my god… was he.. you know?” Kidd asks, making a lewd gesture.

“Oh god! No! Why would you-?! Ew!” Otis protests.

“Then what happened?” 

“Did you see him get hurt on the call?” Otis asks, ignoring Kidd’s question.

“No… why?” 

“He was stitching himself up. Should we tell Boden or something?” Otis asks.

“Well fuck. I guess we should?”

Otis nods and the two of them stand up, heading for Boden’s office.


	25. Humiliation

“Hey Captain? You ok?”

Casey nods, trying to figure out where the peunuty smell is coming from. He doesn’t have a chance to really dwell on it because the next thing he knows, he’s enveloped in a weird sort of heat, his body feeling as if it’s floating.

Severide watches in shock as Casey’s eyes roll into the back of his head and his body starts jerking. 

“He’s seizing!” Severide shouts, leaping up from the couch to help Cruz lower Casey down to the ground.

A few seconds is all it takes to get Casey lying on his side, a sweater cushioning his head. About thirty seconds into the seizure, Casey’s bladder voids, urine darkening his pants and pooling around him. The seizure lasts about a minute in total and soon enough Casey’s eyes are fluttering open. 

“Hey Case, you doing ok?” Severide asks, running a hand through his damp hair. 

“M’gon puke,” Casey warns him.

Severide quickly gets out of the way, rubbing Casey’s back as he throws up onto the cold floor of the station. With a tilt of his head, Severide sends everyone away. Casey obviously wasn’t aware of the wetness in his pants and he didn’t want everyone here when the blond realized what had happened.

“Wha’happen?” Casey slurs, his tongue feeling weird and prickly.

“You have a seizure, Case.”

“Why m’wet?” 

Severde pauses, letting Casey work that one out on his own. 

“No,” Casey mutters. “Oh fuck no.”

“Don’t worry, Case. You had a seizure. Nobody can blame you.”

Casey nods although it’s obvious he doesn’t believe him, hot tears of embarrassment leaking out of his eyes. 

“Hey, bud. It’s ok,” Severide tells him, wiping his tears away and readjusting his position on the floor so Casey is facing away from the vomit.

“S’fucking embarrassing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seizures are the flipping worst.


	26. Abandoned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abandoned, kicked out. What’s the difference?

“Sorry guys. I have to take this,” Severide apologizes, standing up when his phone starts ringing.

“It’s fine, Sev,” Casey tells him, waving away his apologies.

With a grin and a nod, Severide heads into the kitchen, leaving Matt alone with Alina, Kelly’s new girlfriend.

“So. Kelly told me you’re a firefighter too,” Alina says, looking up at him.

“Yeah. Same house.”

“That’s hot,” Alina tells him, tracing a finger down his arm.

Clearing his throat, Casey moves his arm away, uncomfortable with her advances.

“Well it’s um… certainly interesting.”

Casey’s reaching for his beer, trying to avoid any more awkwardness when suddenly she’s in his lap, kissing the living daylights out of him and trying to take his shirt off. Casey puts his hands on her shoulders, trying his best to push her off. It doesn’t work and she succeeds in getting his shirt off.

“What the hell?!?” 

Alina pulls away, eyeing Severide who’s standing in the doorway, a look of rage and betrayal on his face.

“Kel, I swear to god it isn’t what it looks like!” Casey promises, pushing Alina away and standing up. 

Kelly storms over, shoving Casey up against the wall. With a growl, Kelly starts smacking the other man's head against the wall before wrapping his hands around Casey’s neck. 

“Sev, I swear to god. It’s not what you think!” Casey chokes out, trying to get Severide’s hands off his neck so he can breathe.

“Get out!” Severide shouts, shoving Casey towards the door.

“Sev, I live here!” 

“I don’t care! Find somewhere else to stay! Hell, sleep on a bench! See if I give a shit!”

“Can I at least grab my coat and some shoes?” Casey requests.

“Get the hell out of my place!” Severide yells, shoving Casey out the door and down the stairs. 

Casey groans as his already pained head smacks against the concrete, causing him to see stars. He looks up just in time to see Severide slam the door, immediately locking it. With a tremendous effort, Casey pushes himself up.

Unsure of what else to do, Casey starts walking down the street, his bare feet crunching on the cold snow. He can feel his eyes watering, the frigid wind whipping against his skin.

Time goes fuzzy for a while and the next thing Casey knows is that the sun is up and he’s standing outside the firehouse. Unsure of what else to do, he pushes the door open and immediately his legs give out, sending him crashing to the ground.

“Holy shit! Is that Casey?!” Somebody yells, running over. 

“Grab some blankets! And gauze!”

“Somebody get Boden!”

Casey watches in a daze as Cruz and Herrmann carry him into the main room, laying him down on the couch.

“Hey, Captain. Can you hear me?” Brett asks, wrapping a blanket around his body with Foster’s help. Casey tries to answer her but all that comes out is a low groan.

Time goes fuzzy again and the next thing he knows, Boden is standing over him saying something to somebody behind Casey.

“Ch-f,” Casey forces out. Boden looks down at him in surprise, having heard Casey speak for the first time in an hour.

“Hey, Casey. You ok?”

“Mmm.”

“Hey, Chief. How’s he doing?” Severide asks, appearing behind Boden.

“He was talking to me a few minutes ago,” Boden tells him and Casey frowns. It wasn’t a few minutes… was it?

Suddenly, Severide’s reaching a hand towards him and Casey feels himself flinching away, his arm coming up to protect his head. When he lowers his arm, Casey can see that Severide looks physically sick, as if he would vomit any second.

“Case,” Severide starts.

“Ke-l. Wa-n’t m’fault,” Casey tries to say. 

“I know, Case. God, I know. Alina told me everything. God, I’m so sorry, Casey. So sorry.”

Case looks around, realizing Boden was gone, leaving him alone with Severide. Even though Severide had apologized and obviously regretted his actions, Casey could feel his heart speeding up, a sense of panic filling him at the idea of being alone with the man who had caused this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning part (Up until Casey gets throw out) was originally something I had been working on. I couldn’t figure out where to use it though so it’s gone unused for three months until now.


	27. Ransom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Vomiting, Gore-ish

“What’s that?” Severide asks, coming in one morning to find everybody huddled over a piece of paper.

“A note…”

“Let me see,” Severide orders. The letter was written on plain white paper, one corner of the paper covered in some red substance that looked unnervingly like blood. The letter itself was written in blue pen and Severide recognized the hand writing from Casey’s reports.

Dearest 51,  
I have your captain, Matthew Casey. If you want him back in one piece, I want three million in cash by Halloween. That gives you ten days. Leave the money in a gym bag at the docks and you’ll get your captain back. If you even think about involving the police, your captain is dead. Leave an envelope with your decision at the post office on Broadview. For every day you take, I’ll send you a gift.  
-X

As soon as he finishes reading the letter, Severide feels sick, his stomach turning at the thought of Casey being imprisoned by this maniac.

“There’s more,” Kidd says softly, handing him the large envelope taht the letter must have come in. Severide reaches into the envelope, terrified at what he might find, and pulls out two photographs. 

In the first photograph, Casey is handcuffed to a pipe, dressed in his usual sleepwear, a CFD hoodie and camo pj pants. He’s glaring at whoever was taking the picture, straining against the cuffs. 

In the second picture, he’s still handcuffed to the pipe but this time he’s completely naked, his body covered in cuts and bruises and his eye swollen shut. Casey’s sitting in a puddle of blood, presumably his own, although that’s not the worst thing. The worst thing is his expression, any and all defience had left or been beaten out and now all that remains is a hopeless exhaustion. 

That was the worst thing, at least until Severide saw his feet. He had almost missed it, the puddle of blood making it hard to see but the blond captain was missing his left big toe. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Severide pulls out the last object. By everyone else expressions, they hadn’t realized it was there yet. 

With a deep breath, Severide opens the small white gift box, untying the light blue ribbon and lifting the lid. Inside the beautiful box is a toe. Casey’s toe to be precise. Severide drops the box and barely has time to turn around to the sink before he’s vomiting, the contents of his stomach splattering against the metal of the empty sink with a horrible sound.

“Oh my god,” Kidd says when she sees what was in the box.

“Somebody call Jay.”


	28. Beaten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Child Abuse

“Matthew, you understand why I have to do this, right?” 

Matt nods, taking his shirt off and preparing himself as his father takes his belt off, slowly slipping it through the loops in his jeans. 

“Turn around.”

Matt obeys, putting his hands against the wall and exposing his bare back to his father. 

“Why am I doing this, Matthew?”

“So I can be better,” Matt tells him, the words fresh in his mind from the last few times.

“Good. Count with me.”

Without any further warning, his father whips the belt and Matt grinds his teeth, trying not to cry out. He knew from past experiences that screaming or crying only made it worse so he focuses on counting, the numbers flitting through his mind, one after another.

“Seven!”

“Twelve!”

“Eighteen!”

Matt can feel his knees starting to shake as the belt comes down again and again, cutting deep into his back.

“Twenty three!”

“Twenty seven!”

“Thirty!”

Finally, the lesson is over and Matt is allowed to sit down.

“What did you learn today?” 

“I learned not to steal food,” Matthew tells his father, eyes downcast.

“Good. You get fed a perfectly good amount. If you eat any more, you’ll become fat, Matthew. Is that what you want? Is that why you stole my food?”

“No…”

“Good. Now remember Matthew, we don’t steal in this house.”

“I understand.”

“Good.”


	29. Numb

By the time Squad managed to pull Casey out of the Chicago river, he wasn’t even shivering. Severide immediately starts CPR, trying to get the captain breathing again. Casey’s skin was tinged blue and the blond was deathly still.

It’s nearly two minutes before Casey starts breathing again. Severide quickly turns him on his side as he starts coughing up water, still very much unconscious. 

“Hey! Brett! Foster! I need some blankets! And a gurney!” 

The two paramedics come rushing over, helping Severide to bundle up the hypothermic captain and load him onto the gurney. 

~~~

It’s three hours later that Casey finally wakes up. After glancing around the room he’s in, Casey determines that he’s in the hospital. Upon trying to move, he realizes that he’s bundled up in blankets, wrapped so tight he can barely move. His entire body feels both warm and numb somehow.

“Hello?” He calls, his throat protesting the action immediately. A couple seconds later a nurse comes running in.

“Mr. Casey! You’re awake.”

“Yeah,” Casey starts. “What happened?”

“Apparently you decided to take a dip in the river. Your friend, Nelly I think his name was, pulled you out.”

“Kelly?” Casey asks. “Is he here? Is he ok? Can I see him?”

“He had to go. There was a big pileup on Highway 67 but he said he would be back,” the nurse assures him.

“Thank you,” Casey says to the nurse as he leaves. Shifting under his blanket cocoon, Casey gets ready to wait for Severide to get back.


	30. Recovery

“Hey Case. I’m home,” Severide calls, walking in the door of their shared apartment. Dropping his bag on the floor, Severide makes his way into the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water and stepping into the living room, expecting to find Casey asleep in front of the TV. 

What he finds, however, is Casey lying on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth and streaming from his ears.

“Casey! Oh god,” Severide curses, calling 911.

Casey’s eyes flutter open as Kelly’s speaking to the operator.

“Hey, Case. Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine.”

“M’spos be ‘coving.”

“Yeah I know. Don’t worry, we’ll figure his out. You’ll be back soon.”


	31. Embrace

“Trick or treat!” 

Casey looks up from his lap, grinning at the kids in front of them and giving them a handful of candy each, despite Boden’s strict instructions not to. While Severide hands out candy to a dinosaur and Captain America, Casey turns to grab another box of candy. 

When he turns back, standing in front of him is Nadia. Casey lets out a strangled sound, finding himself back in his apartment, Nadia bleeding out in front of him. 

Severide turns towards Casey, intending to ask for another bag of chips for Captain America when he sees Casey, deathly pale and staring in horror at a teenage girl. The girl herself seemed to be getting uncomfortable, crossing her arms and moving behind her friend.

Severide knows Casey isn’t being creepy and recognizes the signs of a flashback. 

“Help yourselves,” Severide instructs, taking the few steps towards Casey and sitting his down in the chair.

“Is he ok? Did I do something?” The girl asks and Severide sees now that she’s dressed as Captain Marvel. 

“Don’t worry about it. Happy Halloween,” Severide tells her, watching as she and the rest of the kids leave. 

“Hey, buddy,” Severide says quietly to Casey. “It’s Kelly. You’re at the station. Don’t worry, buddy. Everything’s fine.”

Casey’s too far gone and Kelly watches, helpless, as Casey trembles, tears falling from his eyes. Wrapping an arm around Casey’s chest, Severide guides him into the station, sending Cruz and Capp out to the candy table with a tilt of his head. He gets Casey sitting down on his bunk and sits beside him for a while. 

The flashback lasts a few more minutes and Severide can see him physically snap out of it, looking around the room. His eyes land on Severide and he immediately dissolves into loud, body wracking sobs. Kelly’s heart breaks for him as he wraps his arms around his best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW Stimtober will be finished just probably in December tbh


	32. “Wake up!”

“Alright, let’s run that again!” Casey orders, moving to set up the ladder again. His team had been doing drills for the better part of the day and it was clear his team was getting annoyed. 

“Hey could one of you give me a hand here?” Casey asks, perched on top of the ladder as he fiddles with the dummy on the roof. Nobody moves, instead choosing to glare at their captain. 

Casey sighs, resolving to do it himself. As he reaches up to get the dummy situated, a bird flies a little too close for comfort and Casey ducks, his sudden movement causing the ladder to shudder. Casey cries out as he loses his balance, the ladder falling out from underneath him. 

There’s a collective shout from below as the truck company watches their captain fall, the ladder landing on top of him. 

“Casey!”

Herrmann and Kidd rush forwards, dropping to their knees beside the captain. Unsurprisingly, he was out cold.

“Somebody get Brett and Foster out here!”

While Herrmann and Kidd try their best to wake up the captain, Otis and Mouch work on lifting the ladder. 

“Captain, wake up. Wake up!” Herrmann shouts, tapping the captain’s cheek lightly. Nothing.

Otis and Mouch finally manage to lift the ladder off just as the two girls on ambo come running out.

“What happened?”

“The ladder fell while Casey was on it and it landed on him!”

“His legs look broken,” Brett observes. “Captain, can you hear me?”

There’s still no response as Foster checks his vitals. Brtt and Foster share a look, seemingly communicating through the single glance. 

“Right, let’s get him to med.”


End file.
